The present invention applies to the art of transversely adjustable lighting track and associated track clamps and lighting fixtures and, more particularly, to a system for decoratively supporting and concealing such tracks and associated hardware.
Elongate standard transversely adjustable lighting tracks for use on ceilings and walls have been known for many years. These tracks typically include an elongate channel member having electrical conductors running along both sides or inturned edges of the track. A track clamp and electrical conduit is designed to fit within the track and be movable transversely along the track. The lighting clamp and its associated hardware provide the support for a lighting fixture and provide electrical current to the lighting fixture through wires passing through the lighting fixture and into the clamp and into electrical contact with the conductive strips positioned within the lighting track.
Lighting tracks and associated track clamps and lighting fixtures of this nature are commonly in use in homes and in commercial establishments and provide the flexibility of being able to move the lighting fixture along the track to center the light over such furnishings as desks, tables, and the like. The operation of such a system is simply to release the clamp, which may be of many different forms, move the clamp and associated lighting fixture along the track to the proper location and then reset the clamp to secure the clamp and associated lighting fixture in place and provide the necessary electrical contact.
Lighting fixtures of this nature are commonly secured in place simply by mounting the lighting track against the drywall of the ceiling or wall wherein the lighting fixture is to be secured. Such securement is commonly made by screwed passing through the track into the studs of a wall or ceiling joists as the case may be. Appropriate electrical wiring passes from the backside of the track in contact with the wall or ceiling through the sheetrock and into an appropriate junction box.
The clamp member may be secured into the elongate lighting track either by a threaded fastener gripping the clamp in place or by a releasable spring grips or fingers. Additionally, the clamp member may extend into a rigid connection with the lighting fixture or the lighting fixture may be suspended by means of the common and conventional chain and wire arrangement.
In any event, irrespective of the method of securement of the lighting fixture to the track clamp, the track clamp and the lighting track are always plainly in view. The lighting track and associated track clamps, while of different configurations, almost invariably are not of a decorative or particularly appealing configuration, being primarily functional in nature.
There does not exist today any system for a transversely adjustable lighting track, track clamp and lighting configuration wherein there is provided any means for concealing the lighting track and associated track clamp.